9/11/2001: the day Islamic kamikaze terrorists changed life on Earth forever!

September 11, 2001 started like any other fall day: people were going to work, children were going to school, and families were going about their daily business.

Innocent, unsuspecting passengers boarded routine flights on American Airlines #11, United Airlines #75, American Airlines #77, and United Airlines #93. These flights would prove to be anything other than routine.

The first indication of a problem began with cell phone calls from passengers on board those flights, who were covertly calling family and friends with the same horrific news—their flights had been commandeered by men with Middle Eastern accents.

Concerned friends on the ground called the authorities. At first, even the frightening prospect of being on a hijacked plane left room for hope of a peaceful resolution and possible rescue through negotiation. Many previous hijacking situations had ended with heroic passenger rescues.

What did they want? How could their demands be met? What were their demands? All attempts to communicate with the planes from the ground were ignored. Those coordinated efforts by four renegade aircraft were motivated by something so sinister, it was beyond human comprehension.

The first plane, American Airlines flight 11, crashed into the World Trade Center building at 8:46am EST. At first, it was reported as a horrific accident. Then moments later, United Airlines flight 175 hit the remaining north tower at 9:03am. The news traveled across the country in a wave of sickening realization that America was under attack.

Panic and confusion set in as authorities tried to figure out how many planes were involved and what were the intended targets?

In World War II, the Japanese army employed the use of kamikaze pilots, who were directed to fly their explosive laden planes into enemy targets. In the case of 9/11, there were no explosives later detected, but jet fuel was a very good substitute.

President BushPresident Bush was sitting in a class room reading books with grade school children on a public relations promo. An aide walked into the room and whispered into the president’s ear to notify him that the towers had been hit and the country appeared to be under an unknown attack. Bush remained in his position for a full five minutes, before getting up and leaving the room.

The Pentagon was hit by American Airlines flight 77 at 9:37am. By this time, all air traffic departures had been halted across the entire United States and foreign flights were turned away from landing on American soil.

United Airlines flight 93, had been identified as being in control of hijackers by cell phone calls, but the target destination was unknown. Passengers on that flight had learned of the twin towers being deliberately rammed by terrorist forces earlier in the day.

According to the black box recordings, brave passengers banded together and stormed the cockpit, but the hijackers put the plane into a steep roll, rather than allow anyone else to get control of the plane. It crashed in a remote field in Pennsylvania at 10:03am that morning. It was later revealed by the 9/11 Commission that the plane’s intended target was the White House.

On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists boarded four United States Airliners, armed with knives, hand tools, and toxic chemical spray. They managed to take over the planes by killing or disabling pilots, flight attendants, and passengers.

As a result of that bloody, historic day, there were 2,993 dead individuals, including the hijackers, and nationals from 90 other countries.

Over 200 desperate people jumped to their deaths onto the buildings and streets below, rather than be burned to death. A total of 411 emergency workers, fire fighters, and police, who responded to the scene were killed in rescue attempts.

That fateful day that has come to be known as 9/11--launched the United States into war with Afghanistan, in an effort to oust the Taliban; a radical terrorist faction known to harbor Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden took credit as the architect of the fatal 9/11 plan, but had no personal involvement in carrying out the acts. Rather, he sent his devoted followers to do the dirty work against the United States and its “infidels.”

To this day, Bin Laden has stayed hidden in his hole, like the coward he is, and rarely releases any evidence of his existence, for fear of being located. The war on Iraq was subsequently launched and justified by President Bush as part of the country’s “War on Terror”, due to false information regarding Saddam and his weapons of mass destruction.

However, the person who proudly claimed the credit for the inhumane act on 9/11—Osama Bin Laden, is still being shielded by the Taliban in Afghanistan to this day.

Eight years later, we are still at war in both countries, with no concrete end in sight. The Obama administration is trying to draw a close to these conflicts, but according to military leaders, there are great risks in pulling troops out before stability has been achieved.

The day that started it all, began like any other fall day. How could those innocent people, who got out of their beds on the morning of September 11, 2001, even have begun to envision the terror that was in store for them or the path of destruction it would open up to the world?

The thousands of civilians and rescuers who died that day, on the planes, on the ground, and in the towers; along with the soldiers, who have been killed fighting to bring stability to the world and justice against our attackers--should never be forgotten.

The day President John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy was assassinated, everyone in America over ten years old at the time, can remember exactly what they were doing when they heard the news.

Sadly, the same can be said for September 11, 2001

***Copyright DelilahStarling 2009